The first semester of is archived Edison, which closed with a loss of 67 million euro, a clear decrease compared to the loss of 207 million recorded in the same period of 2015, which included a negative one-off effect of 68 million euro linked to the declaration of unconstitutionality of the Robin Hood Tax.
In the period considered, the company active in electricity improved its industrial activity. L'EBIT it grew to 21 million euros from -155 million in the first half of last year.
Edison closed the first half of the year with a strong increase in the Gross Operating Margin which benefited from the recovery of a reasonable profitability in the gas trading activity. It was there that allowed it revision of the purchase cost of Libyan gas (thanks to the arbitration closed last November and the new commercial agreement with Eni signed in June), together with theincrease in volumes of gas sold.
The company carried out a further reduction in costs which in the first half amounted to 27 million euro compared to the same period of 2015 on a like-for-like basis, thanks to the actions implemented which throughout 2015 had already allowed for a cost reduction of 100 million euros.
The net result, which was negative by 67 million euros (-207 million euros in the same period of 2015), was affected by the volatility associated with commodity and exchange rate hedging activities.
The forecasts of a 2016 EBITDA of approximately 650 million euros have been confirmed including Fenice's contribution for 9 months, equal to approximately 60 million euros. It should be remembered that 2016 EBITDA will not benefit from the extraordinary components recorded in 2015 (Libyan arbitration contract).
The pre-tax result was negative by 36 million euros, against the red by 152 million euros in the same period last year. The company's financial position improves, with net debt going from 1.147 million at the end of 2015 to 1.067 million.
